ROUGHNECK CHRONICLES
by Roughneck Ryan
Summary: The events in this story take place between Pokemon Black and Pokemon Black 2. The main characters are based on quotes found in the Battle Subway, prior to and preceding the trainers encounter (which can be found here: /bw/subway trainers.php ). This is my first fanfic, so any feedback is welcome, even if it's only to tell me to stop writing.


ROUGHNECK CHRONICLES

Preface

The events in this story take place between Pokemon Black and Pokemon Black 2. The main characters are based on quotes found in the Battle Subway, prior to and preceding the trainers encounter (which can be found here: bw/subway_ ). For any other confusing references, I'm sure you're smart enough to find bulbapedia on your own. This is my first fanfic, so any feedback is welcome, even if it's only to tell me not to write the fifth installment.

ROUGHNECK CHRONICLES  
1 - The Roughneck Recluse

It had now been six months since Oberon had left the squats of Virbank to return to his parents' home on the outskirts of Castelia. What he had been seeking was alone time, and plenty of it. The scene in Virbank had become depressing and blasé and he couldn't understand why. He was the city's resident bad-ass with plenty of cool friends and a hot girlfriend who played in an up and coming punk group. There wasn't a challenger in the city that could seem to topple his Scrafty, but he still couldn't figure out why he wasn't content.

Now he rarely left the confines of his room. His typical day consisted of sleeping, surfing the internet, listening to the same playlists and stepping out for something to eat while intentionally avoiding his parents and baby brother. It wasn't just his family that he avoided these days. He had thrown his Xtransceiver into the lake the day he split Virbank . The only time he left the house was to occasionally hike to Nimbasa for a challenge on the Subway, but his heart was no longer in the battle. The feeling of winning and the feeling of losing were now indistinguishable.

His depression became Scrafty's depression too. Scrafty would sympathetically look up to him as if to say: "when are you gonna get better?" As much as he wanted to get back to the world, he couldn't bear the phoniness he saw in everyone and everything. Once in a great while he would encounter someone he felt a connection with in the Subway, but win or lose after the battle it was always the same result; on to the next car with a very slim chance of ever meeting again.

Today was the end of all that though. His grating isolation (which started off as necessary retreat) had reached its final stage of evolution in the form of intense detachment. He needed to get out of the house, but had no idea where to go. Unable to sit still any longer, he kicked out of his bedroom with Scrafty picking up on the vibe that today was the day that Oberon would start getting better. His mother and brother looked in shock to see him when he bolted out the door of his room. "Are you finally gonna play with me?" his little brother said with eager and excited eyes.

"Not now…" Oberon said firmly as he stomped out of the front door.

All the self-attention had left Oberon in a daze with only a clearer understanding of how his own mind fired and no clue to unlocking the vapid vacuum wave of the outside world. Exiting the house with no destination he felt like a Zubat straying from his cave for the first time. The world no longer made sense, but he didn't care. The pain of being left to his own devices was now greater than the pain he felt outside of his room. The world was now dead to him and he was only alive in his own mind. Instinctually he headed north towards Route 4 and Nimbasa City. He knew today that he couldn't take the mundane and routine battles of the Subway , or even worse the teasing, little rare glimpses at kindred spirits soon to depart, but he figured the further away he was from home, (and Virbank too for that matter) the better.

He marched with boots strongly stomping forward which Scrafty effortlessly mimicked. Not wanting to feel the numbness of battling, he stared straight ahead with an intense glare to send the message "don't lock eyes with this one" to the Backpackers and Workers along Route 4. As he arrived to the Nimbasa City Gate he was stunned to hear a wee voice behind him squealing "hey Roughneck! Roughneck!" Half-annoyed and half-surprised, Oberon reflexively turned around to see his baby brother grinning ear to ear, who gleefully said "We locked eyes. Now you _have_ to play with me!"

2 - Sibling Rivalry

"Zaid, what do you think you're doing?" Oberon said trying to sound as stern as possible.

"I wanna play!"

"Go run home. You're going to upset mom."

"No!" Zaid yipped with a look that was a carbon-copy of Oberon's intense glare, "We locked eyes! Rules are rules!"

"Don't make me do this, Zaid." Oberon said letting out a half-laugh at the sight of his brother's stare beneath his Preschooler's hat.

"Get him, Sawk!" Zaid said sending his Pokemon out without hesitation.

Now in a surprise battle, Oberon's instincts took over. "Scrafty, Fake Out!"

"Quick Guard, Sawk!" Zaid piped rendering the priority attack useless.

"You'll pay for that later," "Substitute, Scrafty"

"Use Taunt Sawk!"

Outclassed in speed, Scrafty didn't get a chance to throw up the Substitute.

"Wha… " Oberon wailed, stunned by his baby brother's cunning, castrating move rendering Scrafty's remaining moves useless. Oberon froze, watching in awe as Scrafty helplessly flinched while tightening and losing his focus at the blows of Sawk's consecutive and super-effective Low Sweeps.

Oberon fumbled for the Pokeball attached to the chain of his wallet to return his fainted Scrafty in disbelief. He couldn't remember the last time he'd had to return Scrafty to the ball. He stood frozen and dumbfounded.

"I'm better than _yooooou_, Roughneck!" Zaid said with a proud smile.

Oberon's icy shock fell away with a humbled laugh.

"And I'm proud of you, Preschooler." he said smiling, taking off his brother's hat and mussing up his hair. Oberon threw the hat on his cueball head and lifted Zaid onto his shoulders.

"Come on. Let's get you home."

3 - Touching Base

Before returning home, Zaid convinced Oberon to spend the rest of the afternoon playing at the Desert Resort. They made a sandcastle that a wild Sandile knocked over and climbed the statues by the Relic Castle. Zaid fell asleep on Oberon's shoulders on the walk home.

When he walked in the door he was greeted by the smell of roasted fish and mushrooms. "You boys have fun?" Oberon's mother asked inquisitively.

"Yeah. This little soldier's all plum-tuckered out." Oberon said laying Zaid on the couch.

"So you two have a battle?"

"Oh yeah." Oberon smiled," That little snot took me to school."

"It's good to finally see you out of your room." Risha smiled.

"Yeah," Oberon said wryly while polishing his cueball "I couldn't take it in there much longer."

"I've got dinner ready if you feel like eating with us tonight."

"Where's dad?"

"Well, if you ever left your room, you'd know he's been in Virbank for the last month."

"Oh?" Oberon's interest was stirred as he reflected on his memories of the city he had left a half a year earlier.

"He's on the panel to select who will be the new Gym Leader."

Oberon knew there was only one ego in Virbank big enough to fill that slot. Roxie was a sure-fired shoe-in. He wondered what his ex's band had sounded like since he'd left. He had heard cuts from their demo every day for the last six months. He remembered how incredibly sexy Billy Jo looked shredding out the same three chords over and over again. He would stand at the front of the stage and get such a thrill when Billy Jo would scream out her backing vocals in the song "_Sludge Bomb_":

"_You can tell your mom,_

_you're gonna be embalmed, _

_when I hit you with my…" _and then apex at Billy Jo's line:

"_**SLUDGE BOMB!"**_

He wondered how the song sounded now. The demo version really didn't do the song justice. But Oberon knew he wasn't ready to go back to Virbank just yet. His break-up with Billy Jo had been a slow burn and rather than wait to get dumped, he decided that leaving town would be the better option.

"You know you could have been Gym Leader if you'd have stuck around there," Risha said while lifting the fish out of the pan and onto the plate.

"Ah, that's not really my scene anymore," Oberon said scratching the back of his cueball and looking at the floor. He tried to imagine what it would be like to be a gym leader. "Big pain in the ass," he thought to himself; having to deal with every hotshot Elite Four wannabe trainer looking to make a name for himself in the Unova region, "besides, I don't like all that attention."

"Well as long as your scene isn't inside your room anymore," she said putting Oberon's plate in front of him on the table.

"Yeah, I'm burned-out on that one too," he said shoveling a forkful of fish into his mouth.

4 -Destiny at the Battle Subway

After dinner, Zaid woke up. Risha was trying to get him to eat his dinner, but he ignored her and kept trying to play with Oberon. Slightly annoyed, Oberon decided to leave after his dinner had a chance to digest.

It was dark out now and Oberon looked west across the lake toward Virbank and felt a crisp gust in the Spring air. He blinked once and turned north to head for Nimbasa City. As he was walking he thought about his battle with Zaid earlier. He couldn't help but smile. That kid was going to be a real bad-ass someday. Heck, he wasn't old enough for school and he was already a bad-ass. He kept his fainted Scrafty inside his ball during the walk as he enjoyed the warmth of his leather jacket in the crisp air. Plus he thought it would be a nice surprise for him to be restored at the station and awake to being thrown into a battle.

Battling Zaid had awakened Oberon's fighting spirit, even if any desire to be around other people was still dead. He was looking forward to tearing through the competition.

When he arrived at the station, he nodded to the Ace Trainer in the lobby.

"Here to blow off some steam?" the Ace asked.

"Somethin' like that." Oberon responded.

"Well you better get your kicks, because they're closing this place down next week."

"Oh yeah?" said Oberon not really surprised. The place had been falling apart for a while now and fixing it would cost the city way too much to repair.

"Yeah, they've put up a tower in Black City already. Its supposed to be cleaner and more efficient, but there's no way it will have the soul of this place," the Ace said, a hint of disappointment in his voice.

"That's a real shame. I'm gonna miss this place." He had been going there since he was a Zaid's age.

"Yeah, well just enjoy what time you got left, Roughneck." Ace said sounding a little deflated.

"True dat, Ace" he said with his head cocked and his finger pointing gun-style while heading toward the Light-Green line.

At the terminal he went to the PC and withdrew the rest of his team. Toxicroak looked eager and how could he call himself a Roughneck without dusting off Krookodile? After having the Attendant heal Scrafty, he boarded the train. His first battle was a sweep against a Maid who seemed like she'd be lost once the place was finally closed. Oberon emphasized with her and shared in the pain with gave her a hug before heading to the next car. Next up was a Rich Boy he delighted in punishing, followed by a non-descript Nursery Aide, then consecutive pair of School Kids (first a boy, then a girl), then a Waitress. His last challenge was a Biker he felt a kinship with who gave him more of a challenge then the previous six battles combined. The battle ended when Gengar was screwed out of his Focus Sash by the Sand Stream his previous Tyranitar had activated. "I knew I should have led with him," the Biker chuckled. Oberon and the Biker shared a laugh over that.

After his first run through the Subway, Oberon was now in full battle mode. The next two runs had him running like an Electivire who had switched in to a Scarfed Thunderbolt attack. The faces and who he battled were all a blur now. Until he came to the sixth car of his fourth run.

She was spectacular. An Ace Trainer maybe a year or two younger than him.

She spoke. "You look more determined than the last time we met."

"You must have me confused," Oberon said with a perverted twinge in his eye "I would have remembered you."

She shifted her ass toward him, winding back her Pokeball in her right hand. "We would like to hold a battle against the strongest foe." Lopunny sprang from the ball.

Oberon smiled, his eyebrows coming to a slant sending out Scrafty full of go-go juice.

A Fake Out. A flinch. A Flame Orb activates.

The Ace Trainer cutely pouts.

A Switcheroo. A Substitute. A Flame Orb activates.

A masochistic grin. That's right. Burn me up ,baby.

A Bulk Up. A Dig. Scrafty is hurt by its burn. Scrafty's Shed Skin cures its burn.

Tension mounting.

Tightening Focus. Dig. Critical Hit! Substitute fades.A Focus Punch. Lopunny faints.

"Don't think this is going to be a cake walk, Roughneck."

Ace Trainer sends out Alakazam.

A Focus Blast. A knockout (what a knockout!)

"Didn't see that coming."

The Roughneck sends out Toxicroak.

A Dark Gem powered Sucker Punch. Alakazam faints with a full tank of gas.

"…and I didn't see THAT coming!"

Go Froslass! A Sucker Punch. Holding on for dear life with a Focus Sash. A Blizzard. Toxicroak Faints.

"You're even better at this than I thought you'd be…" (doesn't matter who said it). Basking in the zealous warmth of the battle.

Its all down to this. "Go Krookodile!"

A Destiny Bond. A Crunch. Froslass faints and takes its foe with it.

In a frenzied pleasure the Ace laughs: "Ho-ho-ho! That is to our liking! We find ourselves quite satisfied!"

Technically Oberon had won the battle, but they both knew better. It was a red-hot stalemate.

"Good luck on that last car, Roughneck," she lightly brushed against his leather as she stood aside.

Struck dumb and shaking in his leather, Oberon stood frozen listening to the music of the subway's clanging. He locked eyes with her again, letting out a vast sigh which left him light-headed. She coyly smiled at him while he recharged his Pokemon at the PC and headed to the final car.


End file.
